Branding is expensive IMHO and unnecessary unless you are a pollinator. My thought is an honest person will not steal a hive and a dishonest person will put the hive where I will not find it. I pollinate apple and peach orchards and only marked my white hives with my corporate initials hand painted on about in inch high in one corner. The other pollinator that works the valley has done the same and we have a good working relationship with them. Neither of us have lost a hive (although sometimes when the owner relocates the hives it can be fun finding them :lau:). -Mike

Logged

..Listen to others but make your own decisions. That way you own the results...

i made a iron out of 1/4 round stock heated and bent into my initials and welded together on the end of a 24 inch rod. i build woodware in the winter so my shop wood burner runs alot. just like branding cattle and free

I brand mine with a propane iron. It wasn't exactly cheap ($600) but I ordered another head for a fellow commercial beek for an extra $100 and we split the cost. I.D. is required by the State here but I do it more to deter thieves than anything...even brand my frames.

Scott

Logged

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

In Australia bee-hives are to be registered,we are issued with a brand to be placed on the front of the hive.I made my steel letter and borrowed my neighbour's horse branding numbers,then simply burnt them on.Nico

I took a cow to the butcher last week and they had a hog brander (that's the name that was on it) that had 1' numbers/letters that make the shape of the letter with pointed spikes. The spikes tattoo the ink into the hide. You put your code in a clamp that is connected to a hammer like device and dip it into black ink. As the animal goes through the chute, you smack the animal on the but and they are tattooed. If you used this system you could smack it on your hareware and mark it very quickly with the points making holes with your name or code.If anyone has access to one of these things, let us know how it works.Jim

Logged

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."--Mark Twain

If you're not worried about a "precise" brand and can deal with a more freehand type this guy might can help you out. I found him on eBay and his user name is razin. My brand cost ~$55.00. I had a slight problem with mine that I inquired about when he emailed me some "proof images" of some test brands....it appeared some of the letters were slightly lower than the the rest which would result in some letters not branding as deeply as others. He assured me that that was not the case. I was correct with my assessment and ended up having to file down the letters surfaces...after that it worked very well.

This is a simple iron brand. I used an old (illegal to install now) gas heater...I removed three of the bricks and set the brand over the flame...worked great. I don't think a propane torch would heat it very well.

Here's what I got... The first picture is a "proof" that he sent me....you can see that the "L" and "C" are both weak. After I filed the branding iron down some it was much better. Ed

Logged

www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

It should. The fish cooker burner is probably circular whereas my old heater's burner is straight but depending on how long your brand is I would think it should heat up ok. It takes a while to heat up initially and by the time I get finished branding my iron is *really* ready to go to work. :roll: I usually make three brands on a single heating....subsequent heatings take less time to come to branding temperature. Get some cheap welding gloves (Harbor Freight) to use with it...I use one gloved hand to hold the stem/handle close to the head of the brand and an ungloved hand to hold the tip of the handle.

The brand actually works pretty good for low volume use. I've branded 14 and 18 supers (both ends) on two different occasions along with miscellaneous bottoms and tops...took a little time, but definitely doable.

Ed

Logged

www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

Hi Bernsad,I used an lp gas heater I use for my cattle brands.It consists of 18" of 6" dia. heavy walled steel pipe,one end the gas burner is fitted,a 6"x4" piece cut out of the center to allow the brands to to be inserted to heat and the other end is sealed with four relief holes1" to allow for better heat transfer. I have mounted the heater horizontally on a waist high frame made up of scrap steel(a small work bench.)When I learn how to put photos on the forum I will post them. Nico

I have a brand with my name on it which i got from Woodcrafter's ten years ago. It is made of cast bronze and works well but here in Florida they want the state bee keeper's ID number on the hives. I paint my number on the hives which are kept behind my shop in the back yard. I don't think anybody will risk driving a truck across my backyard to steal my motley little 6 hives.

www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

Shoot, not hard to do if you have a friend with welding stuff. I used to have horses, and we did freeze branding, using cold instead of heat to burn the skin. So I still have that brand, made from stainless. I also brand any art work I do with the same brand in a very small size. Any 10000 btu LP setup should get it hot enough to do. You want brand made, gimmie dimensions, desires, simple art work, and I can make it with carbon steel.